Is cadence data useful?

[Bill Gates]

I probably stand corrected!
There has certainly been (IMO) a resurgance in higher cadence riding since Lance started winning and the mantra seemed to be that you needed to spin to win. I didn't recall this in the early 80's when I started cycling in anger (though not competatively), seemed to recall all the talk was of pushing big gears and being 'economical) Certainly road-bike gearing is on average lower than it used to be which allows for a spinning technique to be used more widely than times gone by.

No problem. I believe that today there are top (English) riders who use massive gears in TT's very successfully. However IMO in the cut and thrust of road racing and track racing they would have difficulty dealing with the changes of pace.

In a TT they would naturally argue that their method works best and over long distances they may well have a point. IME though for high power high speeds over short distances then high cadence is more efficient. I only started to win open 10 mile TT's once I used the discipline I had gained from pedalling a high cadence in my training into practice.

 

[GrasB]

GrasB, you made me chuckle there, I'd never considered using a cadence meter to tell me when to change gear

Think about it though, how many times do you see someone come charging up to an incline, watch the cadence drop then only when they've lost power drop gears only to speed up once they get their cadence in their powerband again?

EDIT: Or to put it another way, cadence is your rev counter, would you sit there in a car with the engine plugging away & the car juddering cause the rpm is to low or would you drop a gear or 2 to keep the engine running smoothly? It's the same thing.

 

[Crackle]

S
GrasB, you made me chuckle there, I'd never considered using a cadence meter to tell me when to change gear

Oh it's not so funny, that's exactly where I found it useful. The temptation is to dig in but in fact if I change down and spin, the perceived effort is less, I'm fresher at the top and the cadence is there dropping slowly to remind me to do exactly that. Fascinating to watch your speed remain constant but your cadence go up and the feeling of heavy legs recede.

 

[MacB]

come on guys, rev counter, how many of us use a cars rev counter to change gear, we sense the right time. Just the same with a bike, or at least for a lot of us. I can choose to spin or grind, I've tried both at varying times, I don't need a cadence counter for my amateurish efforts. I'm not knocking if it works for you, I just found the thought really funny.

I like toys just as much as the next guy, but we don't all like the same ones.

 

[jeltz]

The question was because I'm trying to decide which "edge" to buy, thanks everyone your replies have helped a lot

 

[GrasB]

come on guys, rev counter, how many of us use a cars rev counter to change gear, we sense the right time. Just the same with a bike, or at least for a lot of us. I can choose to spin or grind, I've tried both at varying times, I don't need a cadence counter for my amateurish efforts. I'm not knocking if it works for you, I just found the thought really funny.

Yes if you react to the immediate conditions you can just feel however both in a car & on a bike I'm aiming to be in the correct gear before the conditions require me to change. That means looking at the engine rpm/cadence & speed to make that judgment call.

 

[MacB]

Yes if you react to the immediate conditions you can just feel however both in a car & on a bike I'm aiming to be in the correct gear before the conditions require me to change. That means looking at the engine rpm/cadence & speed to make that judgment call.

I've got it wrong then I just look at the road ahead, oh and I drive an automatic these days

 

[Garz]

Having these 'tools' at your disposal is just to help maybe correct any bad habits or stubbornness. I hav'nt had to correct my riding much yet say just through cadence, however my work colleague who I ride with would see amazing performance increase if they could refer to it in helping gear selection.

You are part right mac, however some people benefit from the 'toys' others may adapt without!

 

[Crackle]

MacB is the tractor to our Ferrari's.

 

[MacB]

MacB is the tractor to our Ferrari's.

wow, steady there boy, I'm nowhere near up to tractor speed yet, I gots to takes me time you see

 

[Bill Gates]

I can see the logic of consulting the cadence read out before changing gear on a climb if you are training to discipline yourself to keeping the cadence up to a predetermined level say 100 rpm. But in terms of what works best for optimum speed and improving the CV system you need to work the leg muscles.

Unless the terrain is pan flat you will have parts of the ride that will be uphill, downhill and level ground.

Going downhill you can be pedalling a big gear @ +100 rpm and it will appear as though your legs are hardly moving. This is because your body weight is acting positively in your favour and therefore the HR will be lower. It's all about legs, low profile and efficient pedalling technique.

Going on the level then your body weight is neutral and a cadence of 100 rpm in a middle gear @ moderate effort is taxing and your HR reflects this at a higher figure. Core strength and pedalling effciency transmitting power through to propelling the bike forward.

Going uphill then your body weight impacts negatively and a cadence of 100 rpm is not going to make use of your upper body strength and leverage from arms and legs. To make the best use of what you've got then the cadence needs to drop to 60/70/80/85/90 depending on the steepness of the incline. On a ride sometimes I will try and maintain the same gear on a climb as I did on the approach on the flat and give everything to keep it going. Other times I change gear and just climb. It's all good training.

Just an opinion.

 

[jimboalee]

The simple test is to get your bike on a track, or a CycleOps Powerbeam turbo ( I'm still thinking of purchasing one of these ).

Start off by riding round for a while to get warmed up.

Then ride at close to LT in a lowish, midrange gear. Note the speed.
Then ride at the same intensity in one gear higher. Note the speed.
Continue until you are in top ratio.

Chances are you will not be able to ride as fast in top as in penultimate top, or even two down from top.

This result shows that the higher crank rpm in lower than top is more suited to YOUR muscle structure.

If say, you can ride at 28 mph in penultimate top, but 27.5 mph in top, the cadence in penultimate top is better for you.
Two gears down from top might get you along even faster, 28.2 mph !!


PS, my climbing cadence drops to 50/55/60 rpm... But that's ME

 

[Bill Gates]

PS, my climbing cadence drops to 50/55/60 rpm... But that's ME

I tend to agree

Just come back from a short ride and made a point of reading my cadence on a climb (which I don't normallydo), and saw that it was 67 rpm. TBH it felt perfectly comfortable and controlled so I would like to amend my earlier post to read 60/70/80/90 rpm depending on the steepness of the incline.

 

[Crackle]

I'd agree about it falling on hills and over 15% and I tend not to care anyway but on longer lower inclines I do pay attention to it. So for instance, once upon a time I may not have changed gear on say, a long steady 6% incline and would have been doing say 45/50rpm in the same gear, whereas now i would change down and aim for 65/70. The same is true for changing road conditions, wind etc.. Of course as you get stronger you don't need to change as much and occasionally you need to dig in but less so as a leisure cyclist, which I am. I might take a different view if I was training to race or TT.

 

[jimboalee]

I've had another think about my low climbing cadence.

It is probably the result of afternoon after afternoon carrying a bag of newspapers up the stairs in a block of flats. Approx 120 steps per minute.

When I went out on my bike ( about 35 years ago and the same years as being a newspaper boy ) my hill climbing cadence naturally mimicked the steps per minute of my stair climbing.

I haven't shaken this tendency in 35 years.